


A Duty (to the Living and the Dead)

by Mademoiselle



Series: A Duty (to the Living and the Dead) [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:35:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2698115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mademoiselle/pseuds/Mademoiselle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick doesn't just owe Carol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Duty (to the Living and the Dead)

“It's a father's duty to give his sons a fine chance.” ― George Eliot, _Middlemarch_

 

~

 

“Life is duty and obligation, therefore love, too, is a duty. It's as if God sent it to me,' she said, looking up at the sky, 'and told me to love.'” ― Ivan Goncharov, _Oblomov_

 

~

 

“We survived. You and I. And those who survive have a duty. Our duty is to do our best to keep on living. Even if our lives are not perfect.” ― Haruki Murakami, _Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage_

 

 

 

‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡ ‡

 

 

 

He owes it to Carol

 

It’s the first thought, the clearest thought, that came to Rick’s mind, and it’s what he told Michonne. It’s not the entire truth by half. He is going to get Beth back.

 

Rick has never been poetic and any romance he ever held is long gone, but he knows that Beth is hope in a hopeless world. She’s love in a heartless world. She offers warm comfort or a cool touch to anyone who needs it. She’s goodness and purity where evil and corruption threaten to swallow them every day.

 

He thinks of blue eyes, innocent and all-knowing, and of a smile that’s both radiant and shy. He thinks of hair that’s golden, wild, and long. He thinks of a girl that’s gilded from head to toe. He thinks of all the people he owes.

 

He owes it to Hershel. He owes it to Daryl. He owes it to Maggie and Carl and Judith. He owes it to Lori.

 

 _“I want her to live, Rick. Maybe it’s selfish … I know it’s selfish, because she’s right. This won’t end well for anyone. Not for a long time. So, a small part of me thinks she was smart and brave, but … And she’s so young and lost, but … It’s almost like if she’s with us, she’ll lead us to a better world. She’ll show Carl the way, maybe this baby ... I don’t know. I’m being ridiculous.”_ Lori had laughed her thoughts away, but Rick knew she’d meant them. From then on he watched her watch Beth and she always had a weird and beautiful look, like she was in a daydream filled with happiness and peace.

 

Then he saw Carl begin to gravitate toward Beth more. He’d been a young boy once and he’s a man now, so he knows exactly what his son sees in Beth, but he wants to believe that Carl also sees what Lori did.

 

Rick wants his children to know hope and love and goodness and purity. He wants them to know a life lived in those terms, so they can live it themselves. He may have known those things, but it was too many lifetimes ago. He’s the iron fist and Beth is the velvet glove. His children – all of his people -- need both.

 

He owes it to Beth. Beth, who is alive. Beth who is life. Beth, who isn’t perfect or a saint and very nearly gave into the darkness within, but who has earned her life the hard way and still knows how to live it gently and fully.

 

He will bring Beth home.

 

He owes it to everyone, and he wants her back.

**Author's Note:**

> FIFY, show! 
> 
> Fanfiction isn't just fanwank, it's basically therapy. *cries, dies*


End file.
